Feds Investigate New York Assembly Speaker Over Outside Pay
According to the New York Times, federal authorities are investigating State Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver for payments he received for about a decade from a law firm that were not listed on his financial disclosure forms as required. The investigation grew out of the short-lived Moreland Commission.
Prosecutors from the United States attorney's office and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation were seeking to determine what exactly the real estate law firm Goldberg & Iryami, P.C.—which specializes in getting tax reductions for commercial and residential properties in New York City—was paying Silver, a personal injury lawyer by trade (sort of), to do.
One of the firm's partners, Jay Arthur Goldberg, represents several co-op developments on the Lower East Side—"the heart of Mr. Silver's political base." From the Times:
The sizable number of properties on the Lower East Side for which Mr. Goldberg has sought real estate tax reductions include Mr. Silver's own co-op, the Hillman Housing Corporation, a large development of brick apartment buildings on Grand Street, tax records show, as well as the commercial building across the street that is listed in state records as the address for Mr. Silver's campaign committee, Friends of Silver. Mr. Goldberg and his firm have also represented a related development along Grand Street and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, the East River Housing Corporation, the records show, which like Hillman Housing is managed by a close Silver associate, Harold Jacob.
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